From five months to five days out - where did the time go!

I started this blog five months ago and my intention was to keep some notes about the preperations leading up to the event.  I must have foolishly thought I'd have a spare minute here and there in that time.  How wrong can a person be!  There's not been a waking minute that I haven't thought something about this Jamboree over the last five months.  Well, there was that one boy's houseboat weekend that some mates and I attended back in May, but other than that the preparations for this trip has been all consuming.

I have to say, I've got a great team of five people who've worked just as hard as I have to ensure the trip goes ahead without a hitch.  There was gear to buy and distribute, badges to get made, shirts to be printed, medical supplies, registrations, passports, visas the list went on and on.  We met together in March in an attempt try and list out everything that needed to be done.  We then distributed the jobs between us and have been steadily working away  ever since.  There've been a few hickups along the way but we've worked together to overcome pretty much all of them.

So, with five days to go,  I'm still feeling a little nervous but quietly confident that, with the team of leaders we have,  we'll be able to overcome any obstacles that a trip to China and Mongolia can throw at us.  After all Scouts can do just about anything!

Five Months Out

G'day, Noel's my name and I'm a Scout leader at an inner city Scout Group in Sydney. This blog is a personal record of my next great adventure in Scouting.  The 31st Asia Pacific Region Jamboree in Mongolia.  I say personal but really it's just a collection of my thoughts and memories of the event that my children can look back on in years to come.  I have previously been to a couple of Australian National Jamborees and one World Jamboree in Japan in 2015, which was an amazing experience.

This time however will be an entirely different experience for me.  Today I was given the honour of being asked to lead the Australian Contingent to China and Mongolia. As you can see by the time (it's almost 2 am), I've lost a little sleep over it, but I'm confident that with the support of the various leaders I've spoken to, we can make this an amazing trip for all who attend.  With just five months to go, we've got a lot of work do so I'd better make some effort to get some sleep tonight.